Brazil's biggest city on Monday became the first in the world where Uber Technologies Inc offers on-demand chopper rides between airports, hotels and convention centres.

With more than 400 aircraft and nearly as many helipads, Sao Paulo has a helicopter fleet that rivals those of New York and Tokyo, but commuting by air remains an option mostly for millionaires. Uber aims to change that with a month-long pilot programme.

Promotional prices through Thursday start at 66 reais per seat for a lift from Helicentro Morumbi, in one of Sao Paulo's richest neighbourhoods, to the Blue Tree hotel across the river.

The distance is nearly 6km, as the chopper flies. A ride from the Blue Tree Faria Lima onward to Guarulhos International Airport costs 271 reais during the promotion. A car can take one to three hours to make the trip, depending on traffic.

Uber media representatives declined to say how much prices would rise after Thursday or how many helicopters would be made available by the three companies operating the flights.

Uber aims to get as much as five times the flight time out of each helicopter compared to standard use, according to a spokesman. The Sao Paulo pilot programme, connecting four airports and five other helipads, is Uber's biggest step yet in a partnership with Airbus Group.

Uber experimented in recent years with helicopter rides to the Coachella and Bonnaroo music festivals from nearby US airports that cost as much as US$3,000 (S$4,070) to book a full helicopter and door-to-door SUV rides.

REUTERS

A version of this article appeared in the print edition of The Straits Times on June 15, 2016, with the headline 'Uber offers $26 helicopter rides in Sao Paulo'. Print Edition | Subscribe

Follow ST

The Straits Times

We have been experiencing some problems with subscriber log-ins and apologise for the inconvenience caused. Until we resolve the issues, subscribers need not log in to access ST Digital articles. But a log-in is still required for our PDFs.